As part of its broader strategy for the implementation of cultural and educational activities, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation supported the educational programmes of the Benaki Museum that are aimed at students of special schools, as well as visitors with disabilities. Through the specially designed programmes, visitors are able to get acquainted with the Museum’s collections, archives and selected exhibitions, and to familiarise themselves with various forms of art by participating in creative activities.

The following sub-activities were implemented as part of the Museum’s educational programmes:

Educational Programmes for Special School Students

“A day with the Toys”

Through this programme, children are able to get acquainted with the collections of the Benaki Toys Museum via activities based on interactive and experiential learning.

• In 2019, 20 educational programmes were implemented which were attended by 198 students.

“See, Touch and Feel life and art through the Neohellenic Collection”

This programme offers a different approach to traditional life and art, based on interaction, multi-sensory stimuli and experiential learning. Children participate in creative activities, they browse through the Neohellenic Collection of the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, and they discover similarities and differences with the modern way of life by approaching selected items with all their senses.

• 77 children participated in 6 educational programmes implemented in 2019.

“Faces in a circle”

In this programme, designed in collaboration with visual artist and art educator Christos Mitas, the paintings and sculptures of the Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika Gallery are combined in a different journey focused on friendship and human relationships within the family and the broader community. The children have the opportunity to experiment in imaginative ways, to discover the capabilities of their hands or movement and to form their aesthetic perception.

• During the programme’s first implementation period in 2019, 25 children attended the programme.

Educational Programmes for Visually Impaired Adults

“Seeing with the Senses”

The monthly guided tours and workshops programme is aimed at visually impaired or blind visitors and their guides, and it invites them to get to know the Museum through detailed verbal descriptions and narrations based on touch, movement, sound and the stories behind the exhibits.

• 116 participants attended the educational programmes in 4 different venues of the Benaki Museum.